On the evening of March 6, a Kyoto couple walked halfway across a small bridge on the Yodo river in Osaka, undressed, and leapt into the water.

Importance of ONgS-8

ONgS-8 is perhaps the most interesting print in the history of news nishikie and journalism, in that it shows how Osaka news nishikie were at times sources of news for Tokyo papers. It reports the suicide of Kyoto lovers who, on the evening of 6 March 1875, crossed a bridge over the Yodo river in Osaka halfway, undressed, and leapt into the water. The story was later picked up by Yubin hochi shinbun, in Tokyo, which reported it in an article dated 18 May 1875 (Issue 671).

The Hochi article digests the particulars of the incident, which involved a Saikyo geisha and patron. The article then relates that someone at Hochi was presented with a copy (ichiyo, one leaf) of an "Osaka nishikie shinbun" by the Saikyo playwright Sabashi Tomisaburo (d1893), and goes on to describe the print as "half the size of an Azuma nishikie" [Eastern, i.e., Edo/Tokyo nishikie] and "very beautifully done in the Utagawa style".

The article ends with a full attribution to "Meiji-8-nen Osaka nishikiga shinbun Dai-8-go [1875 Osaka nishikiga shinbun, No. 8], which it notes appears on a flag showing "a series of purple circles on white between red checks top and bottom" -- and notes, in conclusion, that at the bottom of the print is the inscription "Ishiwa han" [Ishiwa impression].

Tsuchiya 1995:36 discusses the Hochi article, and Tsuchiya 2000 includes a full transcription of the article in the data base record associated with the image of ONgS-8. (WW)

At least five editions

There are at least five editions of of ONgS-8 -- perhaps the most of any news nishikie. See Methods of "shinbun" suppression in the article Suppressing "Shinbun" for detailed descriptions and images of these editions.